MANILA – The House of Representatives on Monday adopted a resolution urging the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to reset to October 11 to 17, from October 1 to 5, the filing of the certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the May 2019 national and local polls.
During Monday’s plenary session, the lower chamber adopted House Concurrent Resolution No. 20, which was authored by Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr.
The House leaders wanted to reschedule the COC filing to “enable Members of Congress” to fully attend to their legislative duties and meet the deadline for the COC filing.
The resolution noted that the House is currently deliberating on the proposed 2019 national budget and other priority measures “that require their utmost and undivided attention.”
“Kailangan talagang mai-adjust ng Comelec ang period ng filing of candidacy para matapos ng Kongreso ang deliberasyon ng mga batas na kailangang maipasa na (The Comelec really needs to adjust the filing of candidacy period so that Congress could finish its deliberations on bills that need to be passed),” Andaya said in a separate statement.
Andaya said five out of the eight legislative priorities of President Rodrigo Duterte have already been approved, and the remaining three are expected to be passed before Congress goes on a month-long Halloween break starting October 13.
He said among the priority bills that were already approved by the House include the Coconut Levy Fund, End of Contractualization, Rice Tariffication, Universal Health Care, and National Land Use Act.
He said the 2019 national budget is also expected to be approved on final reading before the congressional break.
“Malaki ang maitutulong ng re-scheduling ng filing of candidacy para matapos ang mga trabaho sa Kongreso bago tayo pumasok sa election campaign period (The re-scheduling of the filing of candidacy would be a great help for us to finish our work in Congress before entering the election campaign period),” Andaya said.
Meanwhile, the Senate also adopted a similar resolution.
Concurrent Resolution No. 13, which was introduced by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, noted that Congress would be in session until Oct. 12, 2018. (With reports from Cielito Jose Reganit/PNA)
